Cragin Art Gallery

Cragin Art Gallery The MSSU Cragin Art Gallery is free and open to the public. The gallery features contemporary artwork Just east of the main Art Office and room 220.

The MSSU Spiva Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery that exhibits the work of national and regional artists. The gallery also features the artwork of MSSU students, faculty, and alumni. The gallery also houses a permanent collection of artwork donated to the MSSU Art Department that range from paintings to furniture. This includes an extensive collection of African Art comprised of private c

ollections donationed to the university by five local families. You can access this collection through our online digital catalogue. http://artcollection.mssu.edu/AfricanArt/vex1/index.htm

The gallery is located in the Fine Arts Complex on the campus of Missouri Southern State University. There is parking behind the building and across the street in Hearnes Hall. MSSU Spiva Art Gallery Staff:

Gallery Director: Christine Bentley
Gallery Assistant: Lydia Humphreys
Graphic Designer: Ed Outhouse

07/06/2026

MSSU Cragin Art Gallery: Please join us for a Zoom Guest Artist Talk tomorrow (Tuesday, July 7) at 10:30 AM with artist David Andree.

https://mssu-edu.zoom.us/j/82724419196

In Andree’s exhibit, Unstable Grounds, painting becomes a record of forces that cannot be held. Wind lifts painted fabric into fleeting aerial formations. Water and cold freeze paintings into precarious sculptural volumes that collapse as they thaw. Each work occupies a brief interval between becoming and unbecoming, emerging through conditions that cannot be fully controlled.

David Andree's, Unstable Ground, is open through August 4!
06/16/2026

David Andree's, Unstable Ground, is open through August 4!

Explore this photo album by Missouri Southern on Flickr!

The MSSU Cragin Art Gallery is pleased to present Unstable Ground, a solo exhibition by artist David Andree featuring pa...
06/12/2026

The MSSU Cragin Art Gallery is pleased to present Unstable Ground, a solo exhibition by artist David Andree featuring paintings, drawings, and mixed-media works. The exhibition will be on view from June 15 through August 4, 2026.

In Unstable Grounds, painting becomes a record of forces that cannot be held. Wind lifts painted fabric into fleeting aerial formations. Water and cold freeze paintings into precarious sculptural volumes that collapse as they thaw. Each work occupies a brief interval between becoming and unbecoming, emerging through conditions that cannot be fully controlled.

The exhibition brings together David Andree’s Kite Works and Freeze Casting, presenting both the paintings themselves and photographic traces of their transformations in the landscape. These works move between painting and sculpture, object and event, image and residue. Their most charged forms occur in collaboration with weather, terrain, gravity, and time.

Rather than depicting landscape, the works are shaped by it. They register pressure, temperature, movement, resistance, and collapse. What remains are traces: marks carried by fabric, images preserved by photography, and memories of events that can no longer be fully recovered. Unstable Grounds considers how landscapes, histories, and lives are shaped by the continual tension between presence and disappearance, reflecting on instability as a condition of being in the world.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMSSU Cragin Art Gallery Showcases Faculty Excellence in Per Unitatem VisThe Missouri Southern State...
04/10/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MSSU Cragin Art Gallery Showcases Faculty Excellence in Per Unitatem Vis
The Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) Cragin Art Gallery invites the public to experience Per Unitatem Vis (“Through Unity, Strength”), a dynamic exhibition highlighting the creativity, innovation, and professional excellence of the MSSU Art & Design faculty. The exhibition will be on view from March 30 through April 16, 2026.

Bringing together a diverse range of media and approaches, Per Unitatem Vis showcases the depth of talent among faculty who are not only accomplished artists and designers but also dedicated educators shaping the next generation of creative thinkers. Their work reflects both individual vision and a shared commitment to artistic exploration, mentorship, and innovation across disciplines.

The exhibition’s title, drawn from the Latin phrase meaning “Through Unity, Strength,” speaks to the collaborative spirit at the heart of the MSSU Art & Design program. It underscores the idea that creative practice thrives through connection between artists, students, disciplines, and the broader community- resulting in work that is both personally meaningful and collectively impactful.

The Cragin Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and all events are free and open to the public. Visitors are encouraged to experience this inspiring showcase of faculty achievement and the strength of unity in art and design.

Address

Joplin, MO
64801

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+14176253066

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